


The Fluttering of Our Hearts

by theonewho_ranwithwolves



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe-No Werewolf, Anal Sex, Business!AU, Hardass!Derek, Jerkface Derek, M/M, Office Sex, Oral Sex, Public-ish Sex, Sassy, Sassy Stiles, Slow Build (kind of), The Hale Fire, lonely!Stiles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-10
Updated: 2014-02-05
Packaged: 2017-12-08 02:57:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/756193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theonewho_ranwithwolves/pseuds/theonewho_ranwithwolves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scott just got married, so why does he need his best friend anymore? He has Allison. You wanna know who Stiles has? his company and those rich old ladies who'd like to get in his pants. Oh, that's just great. But when he meets the CEO that's supposedly merging with his own company, why does his heart flutter just a bit?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“What a beautiful wedding,” said the wedding coordinator as she stood beside Stiles. The view in front of him was of stain glass windows, a small church, and about thirty people sitting in the pews. It was a quaint wedding, small and dainty like the Bride. He stood at the back in a black tuxedo, red tie, and white shirt. The suit had been tailored for him earlier in the year. 

He nodded, “What a beautiful wedding indeed.” Stiles smiled and let his gaze drop to the ground, “Just scratch my order for the reception and tell Scott I said congratulations, I have to go.” The coordinator stared at his back as he started to leave. It was Scott’s wedding, his best friend since Junior High. And the bride? Allison Argent, Scott’s high school sweetheart. Stiles felt the bittersweet tinge of the third wheel role he’d been pegged with as soon as she had arrived. There was no need for him now, Stiles’ business was about to merge with a huge company and his workload would double, maybe triple. That’s what he should focus on, because Scott no longer needed him.

The front of the church did the inside no justice. It was plain, off-white color with large wooden doors that creaked when they were opened. The church was right outside of Beacon Hills, about a forty minute drive back into town where his apartment was. He needed to get home and pack, his flight to New York left in two hours. If he hurried, Stiles would be able to shower and grab a snack before packing. He estimated the plane ride to take about six to seven hours depending on delays or weather problems, which were normal for the ever approaching winter days. It’d be December in four days and then the snow would start to pile up in New York. If Stiles was lucky, he’d be back in Beacon Hills in time to spend Christmas with his father, but neither of them was counting on it.

Rummaging through his pocket, he produced his keys and clicked the unlock button. The company car wasn’t his beloved baby blue Jeep, but it did the job. The sleek, black Audi A6 2013 model chirped its location. He headed towards it, opening the door and sliding easily inside. He was twenty-three years-old and owned an Audi A6, Dodge Challenger, and the baby blue Jeep CJ-7 his father got him when he was in high school. Old memories never died, and Stiles found that he couldn’t give up the car. There was an ignition button in the Audi, so there was no need for the keys except to lock and unlock the doors which Stiles thought was just plain stupid. The fun of starting a car up was inserting the key and turning over the ignition, listening to the car purr to life. Okay, so he had a soft spot for cars, especially old cars. Sighing to himself, Stiles forced his ADD mind to shut up and he pressed the stupid button. The car started up with a soft growl, turning the radio on to the station it had left off on. A classical music station. Ugh, his secretary had been driving his Audi. The lady just loved her Vivaldi concertos. Stiles quickly punched one of the preset buttons and instantly the car filled with electric guitar and drums. A Journey song came on, “Ah…that was the stuff” Stiles thought.

After a little while, Stiles pulled out of the Church parking lot and found himself on the highway just outside of town. He was making pretty good time, about twenty minutes from his place now. His foot pressed on the gas, mentally apologizing to his father for pushing past the speed limit. Going 80 in a 60 speed limit? His father would skin him alive. But the Sheriff had the day off because of the wedding and the deputies didn’t patrol this far out when the Sheriff wasn’t in for the day. Nearing the city limit sign, Stiles slowed the car to the normal speed and breathed a sigh of relief when he didn’t hit traffic.

His apartment complex was nice and luxurious and it flashed his social status just a bit. But that was mainly because he had the penthouse apartment. Stiles cruised into the parking garage, parking the Audi next to the Challenger, sliding out of the car with ease. After locking the car, he headed left to the elevator. It was ten floors up to get to the penthouse and a part of him dreaded that elevator ride. He only knew one person who lived in the same building as him, and that was Lydia Martin. He had gone to school with her, and had a huge crush on her in high school, only to be ignored for one very handsome and arrogant Jackson Whittemore. But he was over her by now; it had been almost six years since they were in high school. The fact that they lived in the same complex was pure coincidence. As he neared the elevator doors, they slid open with a ding and a few people clambered out. They were each holding a bag on one arm and some sort of smart phone to their ear, all talking at the same time about different things. It made Stiles wince. Everyone around him was so professional and serious. He missed those days when he was able to crack a joke and smile at himself or be wittily sarcastic and not be thought of as unprofessional and childish. 

As the doors began sliding closed again, Stiles thrust his arm in between them. The doors stopped and slid back open silently. He gave a small huff and entered, pressing the close-door button as quickly as possible before another person joined and Stiles was forced to be friendly. Thankfully, no one joined him and the doors slid closed completely as he stretched to reach the highest button, level ten. 

The ride was short and Stiles had already begun undoing his tie when the doors slid open into his foyer. He stepped off and the doors closed behind him. Batman mewled and jumped down from his position on the counter to come rub against Stiles’ leg lovingly. He guessed that Robin was in his room, lying on his pillow, snoozing…again. She was the lazier of the two cats. But Stiles loved her. 

He bent down and ran his hand across Batman’s back, cooing in a very manly way, “Hey Batman, hey buddy. Where’s Robin, huh? Is she sleeping again? Hmm? Yeah who’s a good kitty? You are haha, alrighty.” Stiles straightened back up and shrugged his overcoat off and laid it on the kitchen counter. Kicking off his shoes, he followed Batman down the hall into his bedroom to take a quick shower before starting to pack his bag. 

Slipping the dress shirt that hung loosely on his torso completely off, Stiles ruffled his hair. It was getting longer now that he was letting it grow out, and was looking pretty good. He’d need to remember this for the next time he got his hair cut. Robin mewed from her position in the middle of his bed, demanding attention. A smile played at his lips. He mewed back, strutted up to her. A soft purr escaped her throat when Stiles scratched behind her ears and he touched their foreheads together lovingly. Shimming out of his pants, he gathered clean boxers and a pair of jeans as well as a towel. Closing the bathroom door behind him, he set the items on the counter before, finally, pushing the boxers that clung to his hips down to pool around his feet. Carefully stepping out of them, Stiles kicked them towards the hamper in the corner. He turned the water on, testing it occasionally. 

After a minute or two, it reached his preferred temperature and he cautiously stepped inside, shutting the door. He let the water beat against his bare skin, feeling tingly as the warm water met his cold skin. A hiss escaped his mouth as his muscles relaxed. Standing under the water for a bit longer, Stiles ran his hands over his body. He let his head loll back and exposed his neck to the water, opening his mouth slightly. He spit the water that collected in his mouth out and reached for the shampoo on the rack hanging in front of him. Lathering up and massaging his scalp, he closed his eyes and just let his mind wander. He rinsed, repeated, and washed the rest of his body like a normal person. 

Once outside of the warmth of the shower, Stiles felt the cold air hit his chest like a sharp knife piercing his skin. Sucking in a breath, he trudged over to stand in front of the mirror, wiping across the glass with a towel. The bigger towel wrapped around his waist and Stiles checked his chin. He could shave when he got to the hotel room, but hotel bathrooms weren’t all that great. Better do it now. Huffing quietly, he grabbed the shaving cream out of the cabinet and lathered his chin and jawline, up his cheeks and across his upper lip. When he looked up at himself, he couldn’t help but smile. “Ho ho ho,” Stiles chuckled and broke out into a wide grin. He shook his head, still laughing a bit and rinsed his hands free of the shaving cream. 

The clock on his nightstand read 1:30, he had an hour to pack and get a late lunch. Stiles grabbed his duffle bag and rolling suit case, setting them both on his bed, open and ready for clothes. Rummaging around his closet, he grabbed five dress shirts, four pairs of black trousers, three different ties, and two pairs of his best dress shoes. He surveyed the rolling suit case, nodding. Stiles glanced at the duffle bag and bit his lip, contemplating whether or not to bring comfort clothes. Would he have time? Wait, he was the CEO, he’d make time for his personal needs. A sly smile crept across his face as he dashed to his drawers, grabbing his favourite graphic tee as well as a couple t-shirts. There were some jeans in his closet that he decided to bring along too. His old converse beckoned to come also, so he threw them in there and smiled. For the first time, he felt like a twenty-three year old just pretending to be some big rich guy, instead of the other way around. Robin mewled and he looked at the clock as it switched to 1:51. 

Rushing to slip a normal t-shirt over his head, he grabbed his second pair of converse, lacing them up tight around his feet. The suitcases were shut and zipped up, slung over his shoulder and rolling across the floor as Stiles hurried out to the kitchen, grabbing the left over pizza and munching on it. The elevator opened within seconds of Stiles pressing the button and he tumbled inside, yelling a hastened good bye to Batman and Robin. The doors slid closed and then he was alone, falling to the garage floor level. With a soft ding, the elevator opened. He’d drive the Audi to the airport, leave it there and catch a cab once he touched down in New York. Stiles racked his brain, trying to remember if he had any cash on him. If he didn’t, he was sure there’d be an ATM in the airport in New York. He’d grab a few bills for the cabby and dinner. A very late dinner. But he was used to eating at nearly 10:00 at night. 

The car chirped and Stiles popped the trunk, shoving the bags inside and slamming the truck shut. He climbed in seconds later and was pulling out of the garage quicker than he ever had. As he drove down the street, he drummed along with the song, “I Will Wait” by Mumford and Sons, on the steering wheel. The radio cut to commercial as he came to a stop at a streetlight. Stiles tutted and rummaged through his pockets, pulling out his iPod and connecting it to the car’s stereo system. He pressed play and set the device in the cup holder. The piece of pizza in his hand was gone quickly and he wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. He didn’t need to be professional for anyone, so why not act his age for once? 

The airport was busy and crowded like always, but he pushed through the crowds with ease. The flight schedule was flashing above his head and he scanned the board, searching for his flight. It had been changed from a non-stop flight. He groaned and glared at the screen. The plane would touch down in Chicago to pick up a few people and refuel before lifting off again to head for New York. That would add an extra hour to the flight. His tolerable six hour flight, just became a menacing seven hours. He huffed sharply and turned to check his bags in and go through security. This was his least favourite part of flying. Sure a pat-down was always welcome, but not by a cop who smelled of cheap coffee, donuts, and even cheaper cologne. 

As he neared the gate for his flight, he tightened the strap on his duffle bag, clutching it tighter. The cheery flight attendant that stood outside the gate took Stiles’ ticket and said, “Have a good flight, Mr. Stilinski!” He smiled tightly at her and proceeded through the gate and onto the plane. He would be flying in first class for the first time. Hopefully it was as amazing as all the movies made it out to be. If he couldn’t press a button and have techno music and a laser show turn on, Stiles was going to be very disappointed. 

Sadly, there was no button that he could press to turn on a light show and techno music, but it did have Wi-Fi and the snacks were pretty good. Glancing out the window, Stiles observed the little ant-people scampering around on trollies and on foot. It was interesting to him. He watched them until the pretty red haired flight attendant tapped him on the shoulder. He averted his gaze to rest upon her and blinked twice, waiting for her to say something.  
“Ah, you are Mr. Stilinski, yes?” she said with way too much peppy cheeriness. He nodded and she continued, “I am Veronica, I will be your personal flight attendant for the trip. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to push the button on the right and I’ll come right to you.” That fake smile stayed plastered to her face, as if she were repulsed by the idea of serving anyone. 

“Thank you, Veronica. I’ll be sure to push your buttons when I need you,” Stiles remarked, giving a grin. The girl straightened and walked off down the aisle. He turned his attention to the seat in front of him, grumbling about how he hated planes and driving would have been so much better. 

The overhead intercom crackled to life and the pilot’s voice spoke through, “Good afternoon folks. This is your pilot speaking; we will be lifting off in five minutes so please turn your attention to the front of your section where your flight attendant will go through the safety procedure. Thank you.” he finished and the intercom clicked off. Stiles flicked his eyes to the front, watching one of the flight attendants demonstrate how to put on the ventilation mask if it was needed and showed where the safety guide was located at every seat. He listened to the whole thing, not really knowing what else to do. He couldn’t use his phone until the plane was in the air.  
Finally, after what seemed like thirty minutes, the plane rolled out to the open runway and began its ascent into the sky. Stiles took to watching out the window as the ground became smaller and smaller and the first cloud blocked his view. That was when he took to fishing for his iPod and digging around in his duffle bag above his head for his headphones. The music instantly soothed his nerves about plane crashes and the possibility of hitting bad weather. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to deal with anything or anyone until they touched down in New York. 

The overly nice lady, Veronica, checked up on him every thirty minutes or so. She was starting to seem more flirtatious than nice and it was putting Stiles on edge. He hated being flirted with when the women were so much older than him. He had money, yes, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to marry some older woman just so she can be rich and spoil herself. Stiles knew other CEO’s who did that and they sickened him to the very core. 

Hour Three of this horrible flight. The guy a row ahead of Stiles has sneezed four times in the past ten minutes, Stiles has been counting. Maybe there was an airborne disease and this guy was the first to be infected. What if Stiles was next? He was too young to die. He hadn’t even had decent sex or one of those sweep-you-off-your-feet romances. If this was the last time he was ever going to have a memory, Stiles was dissatisfied. But the pilot interrupted his mini panic attack.  
“We will be landing in Chicago shortly, it won’t be more than an hour, please sit tight.” 

Stiles sighed and sunk back into his seat, letting the music engulf him again. His eyes slipped closed and he found himself asleep within five minutes. When he awoke, it was to the touch of an unknown flight attendant asking him to put up his electronics as they were about to land the plane in the Chicago airport.  
“Yeah, sorry, my bad,” he muttered groggily and shuffled to put the iPod away. 

The next thing he knew, all of first class was gone except for him. Hopefully, the flight to New York would only be him.  
His wish was shot through the head when a man, not much older than himself, stepped on the plane. Stiles groaned and stood suddenly, not knowing the man was making his way down the same aisle. They connected and Stiles’ phone dropped to the ground. He cursed and stooped to pick it up as the man muttered something about annoying teenagers. 

Stiles snapped back up so fast, the older man didn’t even have time to react, “Excuse me?” After he had said something, Stiles actually took in the sight of the man. He was huge, well actually they were about the same height, but he was buff and had these dazzling eyes that seemed to dance in between green and a pale grey color. It was alluring and made the man seem to be more beautiful than he actually was. Stiles examined every divot and crease in this green-eyed menace’s face, noting that his cheek bones were way too perfect and that he was seriously rocking that five o’clock shadow. 

“I was commenting about how incompetent little teenagers are,” the man replied curtly. “Now where’s your mommy, you’re too young to be in first class, kid.”  
Stiles couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Kid? Who did this guy think he was? “Listen here you little shit,” he snapped, causing the rude asshole to raise an eyebrow. “I’m twenty-three and own a fairly large company, and I have as much right to be in first class as you do. It’s not my fault that you’re just an egocentric sourwolf.” Stiles stepped to the side and slid passed the man, “Now if you’ll excuse me,” he continued on to the bathroom where he locked the door behind him and groaned to himself. He absolutely hated people. 

The plane took less time to leave the Chicago airport than it did in California. Hopefully this ride would be short. It should only be for another three hours and then he could relax in a hotel and meet with this CEO to compromise on something which would end in Stiles popping a bottle of Champagne and drinking to his good health. That was the plan and he was sticking to it. 

Two hours in, and thankfully the Sourwolf, as Stiles had taken to calling him, hadn’t bothered him again. He did, however, bother Veronica very often. First his water wasn’t cold enough, then his chair wasn’t reclining correctly, and then the pillow wasn’t fluffy enough. Stiles couldn’t help but to roll his eyes and think about how spoiled this guy must be. The scenery outside his window had been overcome with grey-ish-white clouds with the occasional antennae from a building poking through. They must be nearing the city. He hoped to God they were. He needed off this plane before he murdered someone, or multiple people.  
“Good evening folks, and welcome to New York. We’ll be landing within the hour and we would like to extend our thanks for choosing to fly with us,” the pilot said through the intercom. Then he gave the same message that he gave when they landed in Chicago. Stiles tuned most of it out and focused on putting all of his stuff back into the duffle bag above his head. He slipped back into his seat and buckled up. Only a few minutes now.  
To his left he could hear Sourwolf asking one of the blonde flight attendants for something and Stiles tried not to pay attention to how his jawline tightened when he talked and how every twitch in his face seemed to be brought on by social interaction. He couldn’t help it, the man was just too interesting and beautiful to not be watched and oogled from afar. 

***

The lobby of the New York airport was busier than the one back home. He kind of missed the smaller amount of people. New York already felt too cramped and crowded for him. The way out was to his right, then he needed to be taken to the Plaza Hotel on 5th Avenue. Stiles prayed he could catch a taxi and avoid traffic. It was 9:30pm. Rush hour should be over by now, right? He didn’t actually know, he’d never been to New York; Ohio, Chicago, Houston, Miami, Los Angeles sure, but New York City? He never dreamed he’d be here. 

First thing first, he needed to get his luggage. Then hail a taxi. The luggage pick up was straight ahead and to his left. Stiles hurried over and impatiently waited for his bag to roll by. It should be here any second now. As he stood waiting, a few others joined him, all of them on their phone or Bluetooth device. His bag came rolling out after a few minutes, followed by others. Stiles reached for it and his hand bumped into another. He looked up and stammered out an apology, before realizing it was Sourwolf from the plane. The man just grunted in response and grabbed both bags, setting Stiles’ on the ground and walking away without a word. Stiles stared down at his bag for the longest time before realizing that he needed to get moving. 

Hailing a taxi, Stiles told the driver where he needed to go and was thrown against the backseat. The speed at which this cabbie was going made Stiles cringe just a little; he knew this was nowhere near the speed limit, nor was it safe. But it got him to the hotel faster and that’s really all that mattered to him at the moment. 

Shoving a couple twenties at the cabbie, he climbed out of the cab and rushed inside. The Receptionist glanced up as Stiles approached the desk. “Hi there, I have a reservation for the next two weeks.” 

The man didn’t look up from his computer screen, “Name?” 

“Stilinski,” he replied. 

“Ah yes, Mr. G. Stilinski, I presume?” 

“Yeah, that’s me.” 

“Yes, here is your room key, number 333. The elevator is to the left,” the man stated. He added, “Please enjoy your stay at The Plaza.” 

Stiles smiled at him and grabbed the key, heading toward the elevator. He was finally able to relax and enjoy the evening in peace. Tomorrow he’d meet with this other CEO and try to get things settled. His stomach growled as soon as he entered the elevator. Pressing the button for the third floor, Stiles scratched at his stomach absently. He’d order room service after he got settled. 

The room was a lot more ornate than he thought it would be. The bathroom was bigger than the one he had at home and the bed, oh the bed, was king-sized and had really soft, fluffy pillows. Sleeping here would be just like at home. The menu for room service was tucked away in the night side table. He flipped through it and settled for a burger and fries, calling down to room service once he had made his decision. 

Stiles kicked his shoes off and jumped onto the bed, flipping the TV on. He was flipping between a football game and Law and Order: SVU, when the knock at his door came. He not-so-gracefully climbed off the bed and opened the door. “Room service,” the man with a cheery hat and matching outfit said. He wheeled in the cart and set the platter on the table, removing the silver dome to uncover a pretty delicious-looking burger with curly fries. He felt his mouth water, and he could have possibly been drooling. The bellhop took the cart and strode out of the room, saying, “Enjoy your meal.” 

Enjoy it he did. It was gone in a matter of minutes. Afterward, Stiles felt satisfied and sleepy. By 11:28, he had settled in for the night. 

It was 8:00 when he awoke, not truly wanting to get up. He sat up and scrubbed his hand over his face. A yawn escaped his lips as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed. His meeting with the CEO of Wolfsbane Incorporated was scheduled for 9:30, an hour and a half from now. Trudging into the bathroom, Stiles stripped off the shirt and boxers that covered his body. The shower was cold at first, waking him up fully, then eased into a warmth that soothed and relaxed his muscles. 

Coming out of the shower was probably the true wake-up call. When the ice cold shots of air hit his chest, Stiles felt the rest of his mind waking up. He quickly toweled off and arranged his hair to look somewhat professional. The towel hung loosely around his waist as he ventured out to grab clothes. He’d wear the black suit with his lucky azure blue tie today. It looked the best on him and made his eyes stand out just a little bit more. Or so he was told. 

By the time he left his room it was 9:00, he rushed down to the lobby and into where the little café was situated, grabbing a muffin to go. He made his way out of the hotel and down the street. After hailing and jumping in a taxi, he was on his way to the building a block and a half away. 

The driver pulled up to the side of the building and Stiles shoved money into his hands. This was it. He entered the front lobby, smiling at the receptionist. “Hello, I’m here to see Mr. Derek Hale, I’m Stiles Stilinski, owner and CEO of Aconite Laboratories.” he told her. 

She nodded, “Yes sir, Mr. Hale is waiting for you in his office. Just take the elevator up to the thirteenth floor and Mr. Hale’s office is down the hall and to the left. It has big wooden doors, you can’t miss it.” 

“Thanks” he replied and gave a short nod. Stiles turned and headed for the elevator. Once he pressed the button, he rummaged through his bag, pulling out a pair of black, square-rimmed glasses. He slipped them on and entered the open elevator door. 

A few people joined him, all going to different floors. He pressed the top floor button, number thirteen. There were multiple stops in between, but he still had ten minutes before the meeting. He used the time spent in the elevator to calm himself and try to clear his mind. He needed to focus on just this one thing, couldn’t let anyone or thing get in his way. 

The last person exited the elevator and he was alone. The counter changed from eleven to twelve and then to thirteen, making a dinging noise before sliding open. Stiles stepped out and glanced around. It was pretty silent except for the sound of a phone ringing and typing, but that’s what it normally sounded like in these kinds of offices. He exhaled slowly and began walking down the hallway. He turned left and found the big wooden doors the girl from downstairs had mentioned. He smiled and knocked. He heard “Come in” and felt a quick pang in his head, recognizing the voice but not being able to place it. He ignored his head and pushed the door open, keeping his gaze downcast while he shut the door behind him. 

“Hello, sir, I’m Stiles Stilinski, owner and CEO of Aconite Laborator—“he stopped mid-sentence, mid-word in fact, because the person sitting in front of him was not who he had wanted or expected to see—“you’ve got to be fucking shitting me, right?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, bit of a cliffhanger! The next chapter should be up soon, maybe a week or two. It depends on how bad my work load gets.
> 
> I'm hoping this story is about six chapters long. But who knows, sometimes I finish them in three and sometimes in fifteen. It all depends.
> 
> This will NOT be my last fanfiction, I'm always open to prompts and ideas from other people, plus I'm always writing.
> 
> I hope you all liked it! It was fun to write and make myself giggle.
> 
> If you would like to visit me on tumblr, here's my link: [theonewhoranwithwolves](http://www.theonewhoranwithwolves.tumblr.com)
> 
> I'd also like to thank my two betas: the lovely [cheshiregrinn](http://www.halethewolfmoon.tumblr.com) and the wonderful [forensicallyyours](http://www.forensicallyyours.tumblr.com)
> 
> See you next chapter~!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott just got married, so why does he need his best friend anymore? He has Allison. You wanna know who Stiles has? his company and those rich old ladies who'd like to get in his pants. Oh, that's just great. But when he meets the CEO that's supposedly merging with his own company, why does his heart flutter just a bit?

“You’ve got to be fucking shitting me, right?” Stiles said in utter disbelief. The person sitting behind the desk was not who he had expected. And Stiles obviously wasn’t who this guy had been anticipating to walk through his door and announce himself as the CEO of the merging company.

“No,” the man said. “You cannot be the CEO of Aconite Laboratories.” The woman that had frozen mid-sentence looked down at the man, giving him a questioning look. 

“Hello, Sourwolf,” Stiles said somberly. This was definitely not going to be a quick compromise.

The man in front of him cleared his throat and spoke with definite authority, “Miss Reyes, leave please, I need to speak with this CEO.” He looked like he needed a drink or maybe multiple drinks. 

“Yes sir,” she said and gathered her paperwork, heading for the door. As she passed by, she gave a smirk and flipped her hair over her shoulder. Somehow Stiles felt a lot more threatened now that his witness was gone.

“What are you doing here, kid?” 

“Again with the kid stuff? I’m twenty-three, dude.” Stiles retorted and glared at Mr. Derek “Sourwolf” Hale, CEO of Wolfsbane Incorporated; soon to be Co-CEO of both companies. His first actual day in New York and its ruined by this asshole.

Hale sighed and leaned forward in his chair, elbows leaning on the desk—was that mahogany?—in front of him. “Look, I would rather not start a fight at the first meeting, got it?”

Oh yeah, Stiles understood perfectly well, this guy didn’t want to look bad in front of his employees. He snorted and shook his head, looking away, “I got it loud and clear; gotta maintain that reputation.”

Two of Derek’s fingers went up to squeeze at the bridge of his nose, “That’s not what I—okay, I think we started this meeting wrong—“

“’Started this meeting wrong’? No, sir, you started this whole relationship wrong when you decided to share your judgmental opinion.” Stiles interrupted, glaring at the man in front of him.

Sighing, Derek corrected himself, “Okay, started off on the wrong foot in general, and I think it’d be best to put this behind us and start over.” He was speaking through gritted teeth, jaw clenched like it had been on the plane.

Stiles blinked, glared, and blinked again. “Did you want me to get up and come in again or something?”

Derek huffed, exasperated. “No, just, how about we introduce ourselves, shake hands, and call it done?”

Stiles could do that. It wasn’t terribly difficult. He nodded and leaned forward, hand extended towards Hale. “Stiles Stilinski, CEO of Aconite Laboratories, how do you do?” A smile was forced onto his face.

“Derek Hale, nice to meet you.” Derek responded, giving Stiles’ hand a firm shake. 

When the other man didn’t pull away immediately, Stiles glanced up, eyes connecting with Derek’s. As he stared into the green void, Stiles swore he heard angels singing. But that may have just been his imagination. It’d been a long time since he’d had an intimate relation, so forgive him for being a little creative. 

Derek seemed to realize that he was still holding Stiles’ hand because he cleared his throat and let go, cheeks turning a light shade of pink. His gaze was averted to his desk—definitely mahogany—and wouldn’t look up to meet Stiles’ gaze.

“So, let’s kick off this meeting, yes?” Stiles urged, wanting to get in some sight-seeing before having to actually get work done later in the evening. 

His words seemed to bring Derek out of his embarrassed haze, “Yes, okay, tell me a little bit about the company and how you started it.”

This was the first question? Stiles chewed on the inside of his cheek, he’d need a little bit of time to think about this question. All throughout high school and college, Stiles had been in love with science. While studying wolves in North Tyrol, Austria, he had found that some members of the pack were being killed by an unknown substance. It was found that they were being poisoned by a plant found within the area. That’s what first sparked his interest in poisonous plants and such. He told this to Derek, smiling fondly at the memories, “We found that the plant harming the pack was Aconite, or Wolfsbane, ‘the queen of poisons’. After isolating the area where the plant was found, we started taking samples in an attempt to come up with a cure. Ever since then, I’ve been trying to find cures and antidotes to all sorts of poisons that harm or kill animals.” 

Derek nodded, clicking the pen on his desk and jotting down a few notes, “Very interesting, thank you for that little tidbit of information.” He looked up at Stiles, a smile on his face. “Here at Wolfsbane, it is our main goal to preserve animals, such as the Gray Wolf, that are close to extinction because of hunting and habitat loss. With the addition of your information, we will be able to move into the future of preservation.” Derek explained. 

“That’s my hope, sir.” Stiles nodded, being professional and—dare he say—kind. Derek wasn’t so bad when he was talking about his company. Stiles could tell it was his passion, though he wouldn’t have pegged Derek as the animal-loving type. 

The rest of the meeting was filled with arguments about how they should divide the work and who should oversee which portions of the company. It was truly boring and extremely stressful. They didn’t finish until after one, and by that point, both of them were hungry and irritable. They decided to stop for the day and pick it up again in the next meeting.

“Good, well, I think we made some progress today.” Derek said, rising from his chair. “I trust you’ll be coming to the Gala tonight? It would be nice to get some media on this little merging.” 

Stiles mimicked Derek’s actions, grabbing his bag. “Of course sir…” he started before being interrupted by Derek.

“Derek, you can call me Derek.”

“Derek, right, okay,” he said while shook the man’s hand once more. Derek showed him to the door, all professional and feigned kindness. That’s what all CEO’s did: acted nice in front of people and then grumbled complaints about them behind closed doors. Stiles even did it sometimes. Okay, ‘sometimes’ was a lie, he did it all the time. But he couldn’t help that people were ignorant and annoying. 

Making his way out of the building was easier than coming in. The bustling of the place wasn’t as foreign or as busy as it had been when he had arrived. People had left for lunch by now and if he hurried, Stiles would be able to get out before they all came rushing back. As he was reaching for the elevator button, a hand with crimson, manicured nails bumped into his own hand. The hand backed away, hesitant for a few seconds before dropping completely. He looked up, staring at an eyeful of blonde hair and extremely pushed up boobs. Stammering a bit before finding his voice, Stiles said, “Sorry about that.”

“No” she said, “it was my fault.” He recognized her now; this was Derek Hale’s assistant. She seemed to recognize him as well and a smirk appeared on her face. “You’re Mr. Stiles Stilinski, right?”

Giving a polite nod, Stiles smiled and said, “Yes, I am. You are—?”

“Call me Erica,” she said, reading his mind. Her smirk widened, “Erica Reyes.”

He let out a breathy chuckle, smiling slightly, “Right, Erica. Well, I’m going to head—“

“You’re coming to the Galilea tonight, right?” she interrupted him. 

“Ye-Yes, Mr. Hale mentioned something about it.” Stiles started again.

“Perfect, see you at 7:30, sharp,” she interrupted him again before walking off down the hall, her heels clicking against the tiled floor. 

Stiles was left at the opening elevator doors, gaping and wondering what in the hell had just happened. The woman had appeared out of nowhere, and disappeared the same way. And what was it with that wolfish smile she had been giving him? It was like Stiles was her prey, and she was getting ready to pounce. After a few seconds, he floated back down from his thoughts and slipped through the closing elevator doors. 

Once inside the elevator, he breathed and leaned against the wall, pressing the button for the lobby. Stiles wasn’t going to think about how tonight he would most likely have to avoid Call-Me-Erica’s grip and Derek’s fake media smile. Though Stiles was sure that smile probably looked good any ways. Whoa, no, that thought was never going to pass through his head again; too strange. 

~~~

The day quickly faded into starry darkness as the approaching Gala sent nervous shudders throughout Stiles, though he wasn’t sure why he was so nervous. His hands were shaking as he tried to adjust his bowtie. He sighed in exasperation. It was a formal event with a ball after a small auction. Stiles wasn’t sure what was being auctioned off, but he didn’t care too much since he wasn’t planning on participating. 

As the taxi slowed to a stop in front of a building, Stiles felt his stomach do a small flip. He’d never actually been to one of these media events, preferring to stay in the lab and run experiments. Sucking in a breath, he paid the driver and slid out of the car, gazing up at the building in front of him. “Here goes nothing,” Stiles uttered under his breath.

A man in the front lobby took his coat and asked for his invitation, showing him into the ballroom. Once inside, Stiles’ eyes roamed over the guests, hands sliding into his pockets. This was not his forte. An arm slithered up his thigh and rested on his waist, nails digging lightly into his skin. “Hey there honey.” a voice whispered into his ear. Blonde ringlets fell over his shoulder, giving away who it was.

“Evening, Miss Reyes.” Stiles answered, politely. Her hand slithered away from his waist just as slowly as it had on its way up. He glanced at her, noticing the taller gentleman next to her. This was the man that had picked up Derek at the airport. 

Erica followed Stiles’ gaze and smiled. “This is Boyd,” she said. “Boyd this is Mr. Stiles Stilinski, CEO of Aconite Laboratories. He’s merging with the company.” 

Boyd gave a nod in Stiles’ direction, staying silent. He must be a body guard. No one of that size was just a normal guy who liked puppies and watching football. Boyd probably worked out eighty percent of the day; the other twenty percent was probably spent at work. Stiles was jealous, he wished his muscles were that big; instead he had to deal with a small build, and lanky limbs.

“Nice to meet you, Boyd,” Stiles replied, nodding back. Well, this night was awkward so far, could it get much worse?

It soon became obvious that, yes, it could. A few moments later, Stiles had about three cameras shoved in his face, and three people trying to get his attention. He gave them a smile and looked over at Erica questioningly. How did they know who he was?

“Mr. Stilinski! Mr. Stilinski, why did you choose to merge with one of the biggest animal preservation companies in the world?” one photographer asked.

At the same time, another asked, “Mr. Stilinski, what is it like working with Derek Hale?”

The other reporter didn’t ask any questions, just snapped photo after photo of Stiles’ face. Wow, only four minutes in and he already hated paparazzi with the heat of ten thousand suns.

“Um, I chose to merge because the company needs my assistance with the developing cures for poisons,” Stiles tried to answer without making it sound like Wolfsbane Inc. was inadequate. “Derek is fine to work with, we get along just fine.”

“So are you saying that Wolfsbane doesn’t know how to handle their labs?”

“That’s not what I’m saying at all, I said that I was going to add to the geniuses at the company and offer more laboratories to work in and test out cures.” And this is why he hated talking to media people, everything he said would be twisted to somehow bash on the company. 

After a few more questions, Derek swooped in and saved him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, “Evening Mr. Stilinski, I hope the paparazzi isn’t giving you too much trouble?” 

“Of course not,” he lied, forcing a smile. “I was just answering a few questions.”

Derek nodded, pursing his lips. “Well, we better get into the auction room,” he said to the three guys standing in front of them, snapping pictures still. Stiles was steered away and guided across the ballroom floor and into a room. “I’m sorry; I didn’t think they’d surround you that quickly.” Derek said once they were safely inside the room.

“No, dude, it’s fine. I managed better than I thought I would,” Stiles chuckled and glanced around, pulling at his collar. To say he wasn’t flustered would be a complete lie, but at least he hadn’t completely crashed and burned. 

Derek raised an eyebrow, “You don’t deal with media much, do you?”

“Is it that obvious?” he asked sheepishly, moving his hand to rub at the back of his head.

Derek laughed and nodded, “Just a bit.”

Stiles’ eyes darted up to Derek’s face when he started to laugh, surprised to even hear it. Derek could laugh? The man who was so serious and adamant about his work, could actually laugh? Stiles might need to sit down. He felt his heart do a little dance in his chest. A smile appeared on his face, shy and small, but a smile nonetheless. 

After a few minutes, more people filed in, and the auction started up. The things up for bid weren’t of much interest to Stiles: pieces of collectable art, Chinese vases, and trips to island vacations. He didn’t really collect anything and his apartment was already crowded with his own stuff. The vacations might have been enjoyable, but why did he need a vacation? Stiles had work to do: saving animals, finding cures, his business. 

Stiles was pretty sure the auction dragged on for hours. He checked his watch, only forty-five minutes had passed. He could survive this, right? The Auctioneer called the last item and Stiles mentally celebrated. This was almost over.

After a short thanks for those who had participated, everyone was directed out to the banquet hall where an open bar, music, and food would be supplied. Stiles was probably one of the first people out of the room, heading straight for the bar. He needed a good drink and maybe someone to dance with and then it was back to his hotel room.

Making it to the bar was the easy part, not getting groped and preyed on by Erica while at the bar was a more difficult task. He managed to dodge her first attempt to grab him, but the second time he wasn’t so lucky. She managed to hook his pants with her finger and yank him back. Stiles let out a very masculine yelp, turning to face her. “Hey! I didn’t see you there,” he said quickly, downing the drink in his hand. 

“I’m sure, honey,” she said. “Look, a few of us are gathering at Derek’s place in a bit, you better be there.” The look in her eyes was playful and persuasive. Stiles found himself agreeing to come and then began mentally kicking himself. 

Derek joined them about ten minutes later, downing a scotch. Stiles danced with a few of the women at the party, getting manhandled to some degree by each of them. He came grumbling back over to the bar, sitting in the seat next to Derek, “I swear, if another old lady touches my ass, I may scream.” Glancing over at Derek, Stiles noticed that he was watching him. Was that a hint of jealousy on Derek’s face? No, Stiles must just be getting tipsy and imagining things. Derek couldn’t be jealous of Stiles dancing with girls. 

Erica slid into the seat besides Stiles, wrapping an arm around his waist, “We should dance, cutie.” She said it with such ease and conviction. He blinked, coming to the decision that Erica was, in fact, a predator. And Stiles was her prey.

Before Stiles had time to even answer, Erica was hauling him off to the dance floor, and Derek was watching them leave with an envious gleam in his eye. Stiles was sure he saw jealousy that time. Why would Derek be jealous? His stomach did a flip and Stiles tried to ignore how his heart stuttered at the thought of Derek being jealous of him and Erica dancing.

~~~

By the time he was climbing into a cab, Stiles’ waist had been commandeered by Erica. Boyd and Derek were taking the company car back to Derek’s apartment and Erica had suggested—more like volunteered—that she accompany Stiles in the cab so he didn’t get lost. 

While in the car, Erica explained to him what would happen at Derek’s place. “So, basically there will be wine and scotch provided and a bunch of people will be there to hang out and chatter into the night.” She said that since it was Friday and no one had to go in to work in the morning, they usually ended up getting drunk off their asses and dealing with a hangover in the morning.

“Sounds…” he paused, trying to gather his thoughts, “fun.” Stiles had never really gone out for company parties, but tonight seemed to be full of things he hadn’t really done before. 

Derek’s place wasn’t too far from the Plaza where Stiles was staying. He silently thanked whoever was sitting up in the heavens and—for the first time—allowed Erica to drag him out of the car, barely having enough time to slip the driver two twenties, and up the stairs to the top floor. Stiles guessed owning a penthouse was the life of all CEO’s, not just him. For some reason, Stiles had pictured Derek living in one of those twenty thousand square yard houses with more rooms than actual people living inside. 

“Come on,” Erica ushered, gesturing towards the door.

“You want me to knock?” Stiles ask incredulously. “After all this excitement and ‘I can’t wait to get to Derek’s because we’re going to get you so wasted!’ you’re scared to knock on the door?” This girl was so strange. One minute she was groping his leg, the next she was too timid to knock on her boss’s door. 

After silence from Erica, he huffed and rapped on the door. It immediately swung open, a wide-eyed, curly haired man about Stiles’ age looked from him to Erica. The door widened more to allow a path for the two, “Well, are you just going to stand out in the hall?”

A grin appeared on Erica’s face, “Evening Isaac.” She slipped under his arm and dragged her hand across his torso. Stiles raised an eyebrow, following after her. 

Once inside, he felt lost. There were probably about ten to sixteen people in the apartment, all holding drinks of various size and colours. He didn’t know anyone except for Erica, Boyd, and Derek. None of them seemed like great conversation partners though. Out of the corner of his eye, Stiles saw the guy who’d opened the door standing right beside him. “It’s Isaac, right?” he asked, turning to face the man.

“Yeah” Isaac said quietly, giving Stiles a smile. “I’m Isaac Lahey, Vice President of the company, and I’m sorry, I don’t know your name.”

“Stiles, Stiles Stilinski,” he replied, holding out his hand. “I’m, uh, the CEO of the merging company.”

“Right, right,” Isaac brightened, shaking his hand. “Derek told me about you. You know, I thought you’d be a little older, how old are you anyway?”

“Twenty-three, going on twenty-four in April of next year,” he nodded.

“That’s impressive,” Isaac smiled. “I just turned twenty-four myself.”

At this moment, Derek decided to grace the two with his presence, handing a drink to Isaac. “Ah, Mr. Stilinski, glad Erica didn’t kill you on the ride over.”

Stiles grinned and glanced over at Erica, who was talking with some people she obviously knew, “Yes, I am too, trust me.”

“Isaac, I think Boyd wanted to talk to you about something to do with accounts and financing,” Derek said, turning his attention to the curly blond beside Stiles. Isaac huffed sharply, gave a nod, and left in search of Boyd. Now it was just Stiles and Derek, oh boy. “Did you want a drink?”

Stiles’ eyes must have widened, because the look on Derek’s face after he finished speaking looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out. “Oh, oh yeah, yeah that’d be good.” Nodding a few times, he looked around, wiping his hands on his pants, “Do you have beer or Jack Daniel’s is good too. I—I don’t really care.” Wow, this was awkward. He was positive it couldn’t get any worse than this.

“Good, alright, um,” Derek looked down at the glass in his hand; Stiles guessed that he was probably trying to find the rest of his sentence in there. “Um, follow me.” Yeah, Stiles had been wrong, it could definitely get worse. 

~~~

Erica had managed to find him again despite his best attempts at dodging her. She demanded Derek take them on a tour, her breath reeking of alcohol and something fruity. Stiles nearly groaned when Derek obliged, finishing off his drink in a gulp. He’d been trying to avoid another awkward catastrophe with Derek, as well as avoiding Erica. It didn’t help that Erica decided to wander off in the middle of the tour.

“We don’t have to continue,” Derek started.

“No, please, you’re better than her.”

That got a chuckle out of Derek. And did Stiles see a light blush? Though, Derek had had a few drinks in the past two hours and Stiles didn’t know how many before he arrived, so he could have just been flushed from the alcohol. “Well, this last room is the master bedroom, it’s got the best view of the whole apartment. Not much of a room though,” Derek said, gesturing to a closed door.

“Best view, huh? I’ll be the judge of that,” Stiles grinned and opened the door, slipping inside. Okay so, he was a little tipsy. But what’s the worst that could happen?

The room itself was spacious, though there was not much decoration in it. The bed was huge, but normal besides that. Bedside table, dresser, all the things found in your typical bedroom. As Stiles’ eyes panned around the room, he stopped to gaze at a painting hanging on the wall above the bed. A tri-spiral, how strange. It wasn’t bad and didn’t make him want to run out of the room screaming, but it was kind of…weird. The design was simple, yet intricate. In the colourless room, the painting was a refreshing sight. 

Stiles’ eyes moved over to a sliding glass door. This must lead to the so called “best view” that Derek had mentioned earlier. Curiosity overcame him and before he knew it, Stiles found himself standing outside on a balcony, overlooking the city. He breathed out and had to blink a few times just to make sure he was actually looking at the real thing. New York City from this height looked absolutely breathtaking and to say Stiles was impressed would be a huge understatement. Derek hadn’t been kidding when he said it was a great view.

Speaking of Derek, had he followed Stiles inside the room? He glanced over his shoulder, catching a glimpse of Derek Hale, leaning against the sliding door’s frame, surveying the twinkling lights, breath puffing out in front of him like a dragon. Suddenly, Stiles felt weak in the knees. How could one man look so fucking gorgeous in the dim moonlight? Whatever Hale put in his morning coffee, Stiles needed to know. The view may have been breathtaking, but seeing Derek standing there was even more breathtaking. 

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Derek breathed, looking up at the midnight sky. He joined Stiles by the balcony edge, resting his elbows on the ledge. 

“Yeah you—it is,” Stiles replied, glancing over at Derek. There had to be a hole in his cheek from where he’d been chewing on it. What was up with him? This was the man that had called him kid, had insulted him, and only needed him for his company. Why did his chest feel like someone was squeezing it? Why did his body feel electrified whenever Derek was in the room? And more importantly, why did his heart flutter a little when Derek looked at him?

Derek’s breathy laugh brought Stiles out of his head, “You know, sometimes I just wish it was like this all the time.”

“You live here, of course it’s like this all the time.”

“No I mean, this relaxed and just…” Derek stopped, trying to pull the words from the air. “This relaxed and peaceful, not as hectic.”

Stiles nodded, “I know what you mean.” He really did understand. Derek must be a busy man, what with having to deal with such a big company by himself. Right here, right now, must be a rare occasion for him. Derek’s head dropped between his arms, sighing. Stiles huffed and looked up at the stars, watching them twinkle around the moon. He closed his eyes, just enjoying the feeling of the night breeze against his face. Breathing out slowly, he reopened them and glanced over at Derek, who was staring at him. “Being a business man takes up a lot of your time,” he added, saying it with the weight of way more experience than someone his age should have. 

Derek nodded, keeping his eyes on Stiles. “I’m glad someone understands.” he whispered quietly. 

For a few moments, they just stared at one another, neither really knowing what to say. Derek leaned towards him, and then their lips were softly touching, the faint hint of a promised kiss lingering. Panic rose in Stiles’ chest, not truly knowing how to handle this situation. Saying he was simply surprised wasn’t enough. Derek Hale was kissing him. Derek “straighter-than-a-pole” Hale was fucking kissing him. He made a strangled noise, causing Derek to jerk back, stepping away. His eyes were wide, blinking at the man in front of him. What, in the name of flipping God, just happened? 

Derek’s cheeks were bright red, and he looked like he wanted nothing more than to jump off the balcony. He was absolutely speechless, staring at Stiles, his mouth parted slightly, as if he was going to say something.

Stiles on the other hand was flipping shit, and having trouble hiding it. “Dude wha…what—what the ever-living fuck was that?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that took longer than I had planned. But it's finally here! Chapter 2. Wow, okay, so I seriously hope you liked this chapter. It's a little more on the information side, but I mean, it's Stiles. Everything that happens with him isn't truly boring, now is it?
> 
> If you like this little story, come find me on tumblr. I take prompts and requests at all hours of the day: theonewho-ranwithwolves
> 
> Until next time~!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott just got married, so why does he need his best friend anymore? He has Allison. You wanna know who Stiles has? his company and those rich old ladies who'd like to get in his pants. Oh, that's just great. But when he meets the CEO that's supposedly merging with his own company, why does his heart flutter just a bit?

_The feel of hot breath against his flesh and the touch of timid lips to his own. His eyes slid open to meet the pool of green inches away. The air whooshed out of his lungs and his throat closed up from panic. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t remember this man’s face or where he was, but it felt familiar. The skyline to his right, a bedroom to the left, everything was familiar, and yet seemed different at the same time. Somehow more…magical for lack of a better word. His eyes focused back on the man in front of him; he looked completely flabbergasted as well. Had he intended to kiss him?_

_His brain screamed at him to stop thinking! He remembered this man; he was Derek Hale, the CEO of the merging company and the most gorgeous man he’d ever seen. No, but this wasn’t right. It wasn’t right. God, he couldn’t breathe. He was gasping for air but nothing was coming in. The world was fading around him. Is this what dying felt like? His vision tunneled, honing in on Derek, specifically his eyes. The green pools of colour, shining in the moonlight. He was falling; falling so fast. He couldn’t breathe…_

~~~

Stiles sprung up with a gasp, chest heaving erratically. It had been a dream, only a dream. The feel had been so real, so tangible. He blinked a few times, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Get a hold of yourself, Stilinski.” he muttered to the empty hotel room. The memories of that night three days ago came flooding back to him once again. This was the third time he’d had a dream about that moment on the balcony. The scene would replay over and over in his mind at the most random moments. Fortunately, he didn’t have another meeting with Derek until Wednesday. That gave him the rest of today and all of tomorrow to clear his head. He would just bury himself in so much work that he wouldn’t even remember who Derek Hale was.

Three hours and two lab reports later, Stiles could still remember with perfect clarity the kiss. He groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. This was going to be the end of him. Once he faced Derek, things would start spilling out of him like he was Niagara Falls. Just thinking of Derek’s face made him unfocused.

~~~

The alarm buzzed beside him, loud and annoying. He had a splitting headache. Sighing quietly, Derek opened his eyes and sat up. There were slight bags underneath his eyes. Ever since Friday night he hadn’t been sleeping as much as he wanted. The soft feel of Stiles’ lips still lingered on his own. Why had he even done it in the first place? Stiles had looked so anxious, so mortified, when Derek had pulled back. The look on Stiles’ face had sent a sharp pang throughout his body. Had he judged Stiles wrongly? He groaned, running worried fingers through his hair; worrying about this would only lead to bad things. Derek could just pass it off as a drunken mishap and their lives would return to normal, and Stiles would never have to know the budding crush Derek had.

His phone chirped next to him. Huffing, he picked it up and opened the new email Isaac had sent him. ‘Morning Derek, hope you had a good night’s sleep. Within this email, I’ve attached the experiments and research done by Aconite Laboratories in the past year, as well as, background on the CEO, Mr. Stilinski, as per your orders. If you need anything else about the company, just ask and I’ll get it from Peter. In other news, the investments made in the reserve in Colorado are doing swell and the one in northern Texas could use a little bit of refurbishing…’ Derek skimmed over the rest of the email, knowing it was only updates about certain reserves and the income from the Gala. He really didn’t need to know all these details, but Isaac insisted Derek know everything. The kid was loyal, and that was really all that mattered to Derek. Boyd would have made a swell Vice President, but Isaac had the social skills that Boyd and Derek both lacked. So, naturally, Derek chose Isaac and Boyd respected his decision, looking a little relieved when he had found out. 

After a little while of staring at the wall opposite him, Derek began to type out a response. Just a thank you and keep up the good work. The guy deserved more, but Derek was too tired. A quick shower and a protein bar would help nurse his head. As he slid off the bed, his feet touched the hardwood floors and he hissed at the temperature. Padding across the floor, Derek grabbed a towel and boxers and slipped into the bathroom. Once inside the shower, he sighed in contentment. The warmth spilled over his body and warmed him down to his toes. Realizing that he was lollygagging, Derek shut off his brain and finished his shower.

The rest of the morning was kind of a blur, rushing out of his apartment, hailing a taxi to the office, scowling at the woman at the front desk without meaning to. His normal routine. Something was missing though… _shit_ his coffee. He’d left the thermos on the bar in his apartment. Cursing the whole elevator ride, Derek stalked off to his office as soon as the doors opened, barking at Erica to make one of the interns go on a coffee run. She jumped when he entered and stared at him incredulously. He felt guilty for a second, knowing that she didn’t deserve to be yelled at, but he was already done with today. The fact that he wasn’t able to sleep as well as he used to ever since Stilinski came into his life, was royally pissing him off. The guy shouldn’t be keeping Derek up. He found every aspect about Stiles highly annoying. The man couldn’t sit still, his work was fabulous, his company had taken off in only two years, his god damn lips were so pink, and that tongue. If Derek had to look up and see that perky little tongue swiping across those lips, he might just fling himself into the sun. 

As soon as his office door opened, he could smell the brew of Starbucks. His head snapped up from the file he was reading and gave the coffee a relieved look. The girl holding the cup must have thought it was for her because she blushed and smiled. “Come in” he said in a clipped tone. She obeyed and set the coffee down on his desk, waiting patiently. “Thank you, um, that will be all I need from you.” Derek’s hand curled around the cup. He added, “Oh, and could you tell Erica to send me my schedule for today.” The girl’s uplifted shoulders deflated as soon as the words came out of his mouth. But he was slightly distracted; excuse him for being oblivious when there was a wonderful cup of coffee in his hands. She left without a word. 

Sipping at the coffee, black with absolutely no sugar, Derek continued flipping through the file on his folder, skimming over the reports for each reserve. As his eyes scanned over the page for the Nebraska reserve, his heart stopped for a second. There had been four reports of wolf deaths from unknown causes and three cases of sick wolves in the past few months. Usually, he wouldn’t be so worried because stuff like this happened often. But this was one of the first reserves he had opened. Plus, there were always wolves that died from starvation or in a rock slide or forest fire, but never of unknown causes. Something was wrong.

“Erica,” he called from the com in his office. “Erica, I need you to pull up the records for the Nebraska reserve, I just found some startling information. Also, call a meeting with Peter, Isaac, and Boyd, and get Richard Johnson on conference call. I want to know why there have been four deaths of unknown causes.” 

“Right away.” she chirped back. In a matter of minutes, the blonde had multiple files and papers all from Nebraska, detailing every little thing that went down. He smirked at how much she had given him. “The meeting is scheduled for thirty minutes from now. I wanted to give you a little time to look over everything before you sat down with the big boys.” She winked, clacking out of the office, pulling the door shut behind her. Derek skimmed over the loose papers. Everything had been normal until mid-June; that was when the first wolf had fallen ill. Shortly after, the second wolf fell ill. He ruled out all causes that came to mind, mostly because the animals had been in different areas. 

Five minutes passed into ten, then fifteen, and finally twenty. Derek had read through every paper, every file, every scrap of information about the facility and its inhabitants. Everything he read just made the unexplained deaths more confusing. There had been no forest fire in the past months, the wolves had plenty to eat, and there weren’t many mountainous areas near the reserve, thus ruling out a landslide. The veterinarian called to examine the bodies hadn’t found anything peculiar, and had found no aconite in their systems. 

“Derek, the others are ready for you.” Erica disrupted his train of thought. He startled and grabbed the files, shuffling out of the office. 

The cold, dull conference room made Derek slightly more alert. The men sitting around him seemed to be feeling it too. Isaac sat to the right of him, Boyd beside Isaac; Peter sat on Derek’s left, his laptop in front of him. The phone blipped in the center and Boyd hit a button.

“Who’s on call?” Boyd asked.

“Richard Johnson, manager of the Nebraska Wolfsbane Reserve.” the voice spoke through the speakers.

“Welcome to the call. We have Head of Research Peter Hale, Head of Finances Vernon Boyd, Vice President Isaac Lahey, and President/CEO Derek Hale in the room.” Boyd responded. “The meeting is now starting, thank you everyone for being here today. Derek, would you like to enlighten us on why we were called in?”

Derek’s eyes drifted up to Boyd’s face. He nodded and inhaled slowly, gathering his words. “I’ve called you in today because after going through the reports of the reserve these past six months, I see that you’ve had four deaths, and three sick, is that correct, Mr. Johnson?”

“Yes sir, we don’t know what’s been going on. The wolves are healthy and then one’s on the floor convulsing, or their limbs are rigid. It’s downright horrifying, Mr. Hale. The veterinarian has no idea what’s causing this. We know that it’s some kind of poison, but our small town doesn’t have the resources to investigate any further.”

Derek’s mouth had formed a hardline throughout the course of the man’s explanation. He knew that the lab here might have the resources, but not enough manpower or time. “Thank you, Mr. Johnson, try to keep them under close watch.”

Richard Johnson hesitated before hanging up, “One more thing, Mr. Hale; these wolves…they were completely harmless before they got sick. But afterwards? They became irritable and rude. The first to die convulsed to the point of asphyxiation, three days after becoming ill. Whatever’s happening, we need to stop it…fast.” Once the man finished, he hung up. The room was silent. Derek glanced at the three other men in the room. He could bet that his face mimicked theirs: paled, dawning realization, and horrified. 

He knew that whatever this was, he was going to need Stiles and his experience. A sigh left his lips before he pressed the button on the com, signaling Erica.

“What do you need, Derek?” her voice crackled through the speakers. 

Derek licked his lips and closed his eyes, knowing he was going to regret this decision the minute it came out of his mouth. “I need you to call Stiles Stilinski, we’re going to need his assistance with this Nebraska case. His knowledge of poisons and how to find cures will help us with the wolves.”

Erica replied with a recognizable smile in her voice, “Right away, Mr. Hale.”

Derek opened his eyes and glanced around the room, “You’re dismissed, thank you. I’ll be in my office if you need me.”

As he left the conference room, he could feel the eyes trained on the back of his head, knowing that Isaac could read him like a book. The rest of the office was quiet and calming. His heartbeat fluttered just a bit at the thought of seeing Stiles again. He was nervous about the meeting, what if Stiles hated him?

~~~

When Stiles got Erica’s call for him to come into the office on Derek Hale’s request, his heartbeat began to pick up. Why did Derek need him? What if it was because of Friday night? He wasn’t ready to talk about this with anyone, let alone Derek fucking Hale, himself. Something inside him said to get ready as quickly as possible and fly into the arms of the man he was crushing hard on, but the other side of him told him to not show up for reasons that he was too afraid to admit.

After about twenty minutes of debate, Stiles had showered and gotten dressed. He’d just go see what Derek needed. Maybe it wasn’t about Friday; maybe it was something about work. The thought uplifted him. With a smile on his face, Stiles strode out of his room and hailed a taxi. But what if it was about Friday? What if Derek couldn’t handle the merge anymore because of the mishap and is calling it off? His breathing began to increase. The taxi driver gave him a weird look, raising an eyebrow. If he didn’t start controlling his breathing, Stiles’ whole world might come crashing down in the back of a junky, yellow car in a foreign state with random people he didn’t know who would offer no moral support because they were too absorbed in their own damn lives to give a shit about him. Wow, he needed a breather.

As the car pulled up to the curb outside of the company’s building, Stiles hesitated. He still wasn’t sure whether or not he should go inside or not. 

“Hey,” the taxi driver called from the front seat. “You gonna get out, or not?” 

“Y-Yeah, sorry.” Stiles fumbled for the door handle and reached through the window to pay the guy, adding a, “here.” 

Blowing a steady stream of air out of his mouth, Stiles looked up at the building. Well, guess there was only one option, it looked like he was going to have to go find out just what it was that Derek needed from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait guys, everything got tense towards the end of the school year and then summer hit and I became the worst procrastinator you'll ever meet. But this little chapter is what I can give you. I'll be writing a lot more frequently now because no more school for a bit and hopefully the next chapter will be up within two weeks. I'm planning for it to be something big and wonderful and possibly steamy. I dunno.
> 
> As always you can find me on tumblr: [theonewhoranwithwolves](http://www.theonewhoranwithwolves.tumblr.com)
> 
> Love to my Beta for dealing with my grammar at 2am. Give her a visit here: [forensicallyyours](http://www.forensicallyyours.tumblr.com)
> 
> And l just wanted to extend my thanks to all of you reading this because seriously, I'm the worst ever and I forget things and I'm lazy. I'm just glad at least someone likes it. And if you ever feel the need to tell me to get my ass in gear and write updates, don't be shy. Please do it, because if I know that you're waiting on me, I can get 'er done. 
> 
> Until next time~!


	4. Chapter 4

“Where the hell is he?” a deep, muffled voice asked.

“He’s probably just stuck in traffic; it is New York after all. Plus, things take time; he probably needed to get ready for the day since he wasn’t scheduled to come in.” another voice responded in a more feminine tone. “You can’t call him and just expect him to teleport to the office! This is 2013, not some episode of a science fiction series.” The voice sounded exasperated. 

As everything came into focus again, Stiles began to recognize voices and put faces to each. Derek was the deeper, gruffer voice; Erica was the exasperated feminine voice. He sucked in a breath and pushed the door open, peeking inside. 

“So I’m guessing this isn’t a meeting about the merge, is it?” he asked, interrupting whoever was speaking. By the look on Derek’s face, it had been him. Stiles avoided the other CEO’s gaze and chose to lock onto Erica for the time being. “How can I be of assistance?”

The woman’s body visibly relaxed. “Mr. Stilinski, perfect timing,” she said, “Derek will brief you on what’s happening.” Once she had finished her sentence, she fled the scene and didn’t look back. 

Stiles’ body sagged at her words. For a few seconds, his gaze remained on the hardwood floor. Maybe if he stared at it long enough, the markings in the wood would open up and swallow him whole. But, alas, it didn’t happen. Pools of amber slowly rose to meet seas of green. For a little while, the two men just stared at each other. Stiles could feel his lips parting; he probably resembled a goldfish, or one of those sucker fish that suction themselves to the glass of the aquarium tank.  
After what seemed like forever, Derek cleared his throat. The tension in the room was suffocating him.

“So…what’s happening?” Stiles prompted.

“Right, uh,” Derek blinked and turned to his desk, rifling through some of the papers. “I have this wolf reserve—“

“Yes, you have many actually.” Stiles remarked, raising an eyebrow.

“That’s not what I—okay, I’ll just cut to the chase; one of the reserves funded by the company is experiencing… losses, and they don’t know why.”

Stiles floundered a bit, “Look, dude, I’m a scientist, not a finance guy. I don’t know how to get more people to come to your park—“

“No, I didn’t mean the reserve was losing sales and visitors… I meant the wolves; the wolves are dying.” Derek said through gritted teeth.

“Oh, _oh_!”

“Yeah.”

“That makes a lot more sense. Do they know why the wolves are dying?” If Stiles said his curiosity wasn’t spiked, he’d be lying through his teeth.  
“Kind of why I called you in; they have no clue and neither do we. Our science team is already held up as it is with other assignments and they don’t have time to drop everything they’re doing to try and find out what could be happening to these animals, but you do.” Derek had begun speaking at lightning speed, trying to fit it all in before Stiles objected to anything. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa there Sourwolf, who said I had the time to do this?”

“Stiles… I know you probably don’t, but you’re all I—we have.” The man sounded absolutely petrified. It scared Stiles just a little bit. Part of him wanted to jump head first into it, but a little voice in the back of his mind was screaming at him to say no. Just when he was about to give into that small voice he heard, “ _Please._ ” His eyes snapped up. Did Derek Hale just plead for Stiles’ help?

It was enough for him to ignore that little voice. “Tell me everything you know about what’s been happening.”

~~~

The folder said it began in June. That was six months ago. After six months, whatever this was had claimed four lives and another three were threatened. Stiles flipped the page and sipped at the coffee in his hand. He must have gone over this file a thousand times. But each time he read through it, Stiles found new information that he’d missed the time before. 

The first wolf, named Aurora, had fallen ill overnight. She’d been out in the woods and came back to the reserve for feeding and bedding. Over the course of the night, one of the night workers noticed her acting strangely. They called in Richard and moments later, Aurora began having full body muscle spasms. Richard called in the local vet to have her examined. The reserve quarantined her and let the vet do his work. 

In two weeks another wolf had fallen under the same illness. This one was male and named Malakai. Just like Aurora, Malakai had been out in the woods and came back to the reserve for bedtime. In the wee hours of the morning, a worker found the wolf spasming in his cage and immediately called in the veterinarian. Malakai was quarantined with Aurora and observed.

Soon after Malakai joined Aurora, she passed away from asphyxiation. The muscle spasms had started coming more and more frequently. The last full body spasm she had was classified as a seizure and resulted in her choking on her own spit. 

After that, the sickened wolves were watched at all hours of the day and night. The other two deceased wolves were both females, Ginger and Luna. Their cases were similar to the others except for a few things, they hadn’t died as quickly and the symptoms were slightly off. The wolves had lasted a full month and a half after infected, whereas Aurora died after two weeks and Malakai passed after four. As for their symptoms, these two wolves had incessant vomiting and facial twitches. They also had dilated pupils and were frothing at the mouth when not vomiting.

Something happened to the two wolves infected first that didn’t happen to the others. Stiles was sure of this fact. The next infected wolf to surface appeared a full week after Luna passed. The reserve had hoped that the infection had passed, but then a male, Julius, started showing the same symptoms. A few days later, his mate, Pompeia, began to as well. The two wolves had been quarantined and had been there for the past month. It had only been nine days since the latest wolf had fallen ill. The file didn’t mention the gender or name of the latest wolf since the file had been typed up a day after the wolf had begun showing symptoms. Stiles knew the workers must have their hands full so he wasn’t too angry at them. 

The coffee in front of him had turned cold while he had been immersed in the file and his thoughts. Actually, he had been so focused on the information that he forgot that Derek was sitting across from him. The small noise Derek made in the back of his throat startled Stiles so much that his hand with the coffee in it jerked to the side and sloshed coffee onto his sleeve. Cursing, he set the cup down on the table and glanced up at Derek.

“I-I completely forgot you were sitting there.” Stiles muttered, fumbling for the Kleenexes sitting atop Derek’s desk. 

“I didn’t mean to startle you.” Derek replied softly, blinking at Stiles. He added, “What were you thinking about? Your face kind of—er—flickered through every possible emotion in a matter of a few seconds.”

His eyebrow elevated closer to his hairline, why had Derek been watching him read? Now he wished he had been able to see the other’s expression while he’d been busy. Stiles opened his mouth to say something, hesitated, and promptly closed his mouth again, looking down at the file in his hand. 

Derek cleared his throat and brought a hand up to scratch at the back of his neck. This was terribly awkward. His eyes followed Stiles’ to the file sitting in the man’s lap. “Look, I’m sorry about—“

“I was thinking about why—“Stiles started at the same time.

“—oh, continue—“

“—oh, sorry what were you—“A small smile pulled at the corners of Stiles’ lips. They had started at the same time again.

“Continue,” Derek urged.

“No, no, you can speak, it’s fine.” 

“ _Stiles_ ,” Derek said, narrowing his eyes into a glare. 

“Right, um, I was saying… I was thinking about why the first two died as quickly as they did, when the other two died after a month. Why are these wolves lasting longer? They can’t be immune already, or stronger than whatever this is, because it doesn’t make any sense time-wise and there wasn’t a new litter born for the evolution theory to even come into play. I thought maybe…”

When he didn’t continue, Derek’s eyebrows rose, “You thought maybe… what?”

“I thought… maybe there’s something in the woods that the first two got into and caught the brunt force of it. And then the others have taken in smaller and smaller doses of whatever this is.”

Derek nodded and they fell back into silence. 

As the hour dragged on, Stiles glanced up from reading the file again to notice Derek rolling his neck and trying to massage it. “Something wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m fine.” Derek growled, dropping his arm.

A few moments later, he was rolling his neck again. Stiles closed the folder and got up, walking around to stand behind Derek, “Let me see.”

“I said I’m fine. It’s just a crick in my neck,” Derek replied. “It’ll go away.”

“These are magic fingers,” Stiles said, wiggling said fingers in front of Derek’s face. “Trust me, I can get it out for you.”

Derek stiffened in his chair and grimaced, “It’s fine Stiles you don’t need to do— _holy God_.”

A smile spread across his face as his fingers gently massaged into the tight muscles. He located the spot that was giving Derek trouble and worked it out slowly. “I told you… magic fingers.”

The man growled lowly but didn’t make him stop. What Derek did do though, was lean into Stiles’ fingertips, practically purring. Stiles loosened the knot and the muscle relaxed underneath his fingertips. 

“There… is that better?” he asked, letting his fingers linger on Derek’s neck.

The man turned his head back and forth, testing it out. After a beat of silence, he nodded. “Thank you.” Derek replied quietly.

Stiles beamed and reluctantly slid his fingers off his neck. “Anytime.”

Stiles returned to his seat and they fell into silence again. It wasn’t until Peter knocked on the door that either of them acknowledged the other’s company. They looked up at each other, then at the door, and back at each other. Derek said, “Come in,” with his eyes still locked with Stiles’. The boy had been so quiet and still that Derek had forgotten anyone was with him. 

“Am I… interrupting something?” Peter smirked and looked at his nephew knowingly. Derek’s lazy, relaxed expression morphed into annoyance in about 0.2 seconds. 

“What do you need, Peter?” he asked through gritted teeth.

Peter cleared his throat and looked down at Stiles. “I’ve come to inform you that another scientist has come to the office, claiming to be the head of technology and research at Aconite Laboratories.”

Stiles raised an eyebrow, “Danny’s here?”

~~~

_Danny? Who in the hell is Danny? It couldn’t be… but what if it was… could Danny be Stiles’ boyfriend? If he’s just a coworker, then why were they on a first name basis? They could just be friends and you’re over thinking this… but Stiles is gorgeous, of course he would be involved with someone. Oh my god, you kissed a taken man… no wonder he looked ready to jump over the ledge._ It was absolutely possible that Derek was having an emotional break-down behind his masked face. All of the scenarios flew through his head. Fuck, he hadn’t even met this Danny character and he was already jumping to conclusions about him. 

Stiles seemed to be happy that Danny was here. He was smiling. Maybe they were involved. Derek looked at his Uncle. Oh, he needed to wipe that smug little smile off his face before he got a fist full of his nephew. 

“Well, let him come up… if he’s working for Stiles, he must have some news.” Derek heard himself saying. His voice didn’t sound natural. 

Peter nodded and ducked out of the room that smug smile still on his face. Why had he even agreed to let his uncle work here? What drug had Derek been on when he’d allowed that to happen?

Stiles turned to stare at him. “You’re okay with him coming up? He usually doesn’t bother me while I’m on business unless it’s urgent.”

Derek only nodded and returned his attention to his computer. They were definitely a couple, Stiles and Danny. It’d be best if he kept his relationship with Stiles as business only. 

An uneasy silence fell between them as they both waited for Danny. Derek wasn’t waiting for Danny because he wanted to scope out Stiles’ type, of course not. And if anyone said that was the reason, he would deny it so hard he’d become the Nile River.

There was a soft knock on the door before it was pushed open to reveal an average man with tanned skin and dimples that Derek could probably swim in. Stiles’ type was the nice boy/boy next door? He didn’t see that one coming. Besides Danny’s nice appearance, the man was built and had a decent face. If Derek’s type wasn’t fidgety, pale, lanky, and covered in moles and freckles, then he’d probably date Danny. And—whoa, what in the hell was he thinking? This was a very, very wrong bunny trail that he needed to hop off of before it got out of line and became extremely unprofessional. 

“You must be Danny.” He said with a cool calmness. 

Stiles hummed and glanced up from where he had been biting on his pen. “Hey Danny. Did something happen at the lab?”

Danny shook his head and stepped into the room, extending the file he’d brought along. “No, it’s about a case we caught. It seems that a wolf reserve in New York is losing wolves and—“

“—No one knows why or how these wolves are falling sick and dying. They’re showing symptoms like convulsing, twitching, vomiting, frothing at the mouth, dilated pupils, and death caused by asphyxiation.” Stiles finished Danny’s sentence. 

The boy looked stunned for a few seconds before his eyes flicked down to the file that sat in Stiles’ lap. “You have a similar case here?”

“Yes… and this has suddenly become an enormous pain in my ass.” Stiles remarked, huffing. 

Derek stared wide-eyed at Danny. “This reserve… what’s it called?”

“Hale Wolves.”

His face paled. That was the first reserve that his family had opened up. His mom had started that when she was young and their family had grown up on that reserve. Derek felt sick. 

“Derek…” Stiles trailed off, coming to the same conclusion. 

This case had turned from a pain in the ass to a major fucking problem. “Stiles… two of my reserves have been hit with this poison or illness or whatever the fuck this is. I know you don’t own any reserves, but these facilities are my life. If I lose one, it’s like losing a child.”

Stiles’ face had turned grim, mouth set in a hard line. “I understand, Derek, I will do everything in my power to make sure I stop whatever this is. But it’s not going to be easy. I’m going to need lots of resources, samples, access to databases, files, all the information you have on these pieces of land.” He was speaking at a rapid fire pace by now. “Danny, I need you to get the scientists back in the lab on the phone; send them copies of everything. I want every person not working on a case on this one. You and I will be stationed here in the lab provided by Wolfsbane. Do you understand?”

“Of course.” Danny said and he was whisking out a tablet, typing away. 

Derek fixed his gaze on Stiles. “I don’t want to spend any time on the merge until this is worked out. Think of this as a test of your loyalties and how well you can work with my team here.”

Stiles smirked. “I’m a people person, Derek. I know how to woo and charm.”

He rolled his eyes and pressed a button on his phone. “Erica, call the lab… tell them I’m coming down and I’m bringing Stiles Stilinski and employee with me.”

“Will do, Mr. Hale,” she chirped back.

Derek began to gather his belongings and noticed that Stiles had begun doing the same. Danny stood in the middle of the room, one hand on his bag’s strap, the other stuck down in his pocket. 

“Got everything?” Derek asked, snagging his coffee cup. He wasn’t going to forget it this time. 

“Yeah,” Stiles replied. “Let’s head down.”

~~~

The Wolfsbane laboratory was a large facility that took up the whole floor beneath where Derek’s office sat. One half of the lab was devoted to offices and computer tech rooms; but the other half was covered in tables and tables full of chemicals and empty beakers. In the far corner sat a large screen that showed the Wolfsbane logo, spinning idly in the center. 

“Wow,” Stiles whistled as he looked around. He and Danny wore the same expression: impressed.

The smirk on Derek’s face was smug and showed his amusement. His company had one of the most advanced science research labs in all of America. And he kind of prided himself on that fact. 

Peter strolled out of his office, giving a curt nod to the small group. “Welcome to the lab. I do believe you’ll find everything to your satisfaction.” The man grinned predatorily and gestured to the whole space. “Everything is yours to touch, maneuver, and play around with… including the scientists. They are at your beck and call.” 

Derek’s eyes rolled so hard that he was pretty sure they fell out of his head. His uncle had always been one for the dramatics. “Peter always loves the dramatics. What he means is that the lab is yours and you can perform whatever tests you need. Whatever you need, ask me or one of the scientists and we’ll get it for you.”

Stiles nodded, eyes still bouncing around the room. He looked like he was going to vibrate out of his skin. A noise came from beside Stiles. Derek’s eyes snapped from Stiles’ profile to find Danny staring at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, Danny?”

“I’m going to need to access the main hard drive system to connect with my motherboard back in California.”

Derek looked constipated. He didn’t work with technology. He handled the paperwork and the business transactions. His skill set wasn’t in a lab or sitting at a computer. Actually, he was pretty technologically stupid. The only pieces of equipment he knows how to use are his phone, his laptop at home, and a calculator. And then of course, there’s the basic stuff like microwaves, stoves, etc. How was he supposed to answer this?

Peter smirked at his nephew’s expression before turning to Danny. “I can show you how… follow me.”

~~~

It was some time before Stiles even talked. The lab literally took his breath away. It was huge. It was wonderfully tech’ed out. And it made the little kid inside him want to go and touch all the buttons. 

He silently moved through the space, running his hands over some of the machines in there. Letting his eyes just roam around, Stiles drifted towards the large screen. He recognized it as the touch screen TV he’d wanted to put in his own lab back at home. The thing cost close to a million dollars and, well, Stiles and the company didn’t really have that much money to spare. 

“Is everything to your satisfaction?” Derek said, voice cutting through his train of thought.

“What? Oh, oh yeah, yes. It’s definitely to my satisfaction.” he rambled. It was more than to his satisfaction; more like a dream than anything. 

Derek nodded. “Good. I’ll leave you to it, then. I have a few more files I need to sort through before I head out for the day.” He turned to walk back to the elevator. “Stay as long as you’d like… I won’t have anyone force you out since they all know how important this new case is.” he called over his shoulder. 

Stiles gave a half-hearted acknowledgement, attention focusing on the screen in front of him, He didn’t even realize Derek had left until he heard the elevator doors ding and slide closed. Suddenly, he felt bad for not properly thanking Derek for the use of his obviously expensive lab. 

That guilt was soon forgotten when Stiles’ finger connected with the screen and it lit up to show a desktop. His face lit up as he pressed a few buttons. The files for the Nebraska reserve were here and Danny had just uploaded the New York case files. 

It took him less than ten minutes to read through the file, skimming over a few things since it was the same basic information with minor twists. He matched profiles of wolves together. Five wolves had died and another eight were sick. The deceased animals were placed under the subject “Passed,” while the ill wolves were under “Savable.” He knew he needed to work fast. Having Danny here now would help him move at a quicker pace. Stiles just hoped he’d be able to figure this out before more deaths occurred; or worse… more cases arose. 

~~~

A few hours later, Derek was shutting down his computer, gathering his belongings that were scattered across the desk and room. His coat hung on the rack across the room. That was the last thing he needed before he could leave. Everyone else on this floor had headed out for the day. Checking his watch, he realized everyone in the building would have headed home by now; it was twenty passed ten o’clock. 

As he passed by the security desk on the first floor, his eye caught sight of the camera on the lab floor. The lights were still on. Derek cursed Peter for forgetting to shut everything down and turned on his heel. 

The ride up to the floor was slow and the elevator music annoyed him. He needed to invent better music for these damn contraptions; maybe something along the lines of ‘I want to wring my neck’ instead of ‘I’m going to shoot myself in the face.’ Chuckling to himself, Derek watched as the dial above the door reached the number twelve for the floor level. 

When the doors slid open, his ears were ambushed with a loud chord of a guitar, followed by singing. So he wasn’t the only one still here? 

Derek followed the sound of the music and was given the sight of CEO Stiles Stilinski, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, dancing to the song that was playing. He looked to the side and saw Stiles’ coat and tie hanging on the chair, seemingly thrown instead of lain. He cleared his throat loud enough to be heard over the music. 

Stiles jumped about four feet into the air and spun around, beaker held out in defense. Derek raised an eyebrow, staring at the boy with amusement. 

“Dude! Don’t sneak up on a guy when he’s in the zone.” the boy said, voice a few octaves too high.

Derek smirked, “Sorry… I didn’t think anyone was still here.” He checked his watch again. “It is ten-thirty at night.”

Stiles flailed a little, scrabbling for his phone in his back pocket. “Dude are you serious? Where did those past two hours go? I didn’t even realize… Danny left two hours ago, and I’ve been working ever since.” 

Derek nodded and stared at Stiles, still amused. His eyebrow slowly joined the other as his face returned to a scowl. “Right, well, I’ll be leaving now. When you wish to leave, do turn the lights off and power down the electronics. There’s a light switch over there,” he pointed to a spot on the wall, “by the elevator. If you flip all three of them down, it will power off all of the lights and the computers in the tech room.” He paused for a moment, trying to think of anything else that Stiles would need to do. “That… should be it,” Derek said, pursing his lips. “Yes, that’s all… well, I’ll leave you to it.” And with that, he spun on his heel and headed for the elevator.

Stiles watched the man, not truly wanting to be the only one left in the building. “Hey,” he called after Derek. “Hey, Derek, wait! Uh, do you—do you mind staying? You could help me out with stuff… tell me about both reserves, bounce ideas around between the two of us. Two minds are better than one.”

Derek looked over his shoulder at Stiles. His eyebrows rose again. “I’m not a scientist, Stiles,” he said, confused.

“Yes, I know that, I just meant… you could tell me about the landscape of each reserve, the similarities and differences. Maybe tell me of some people who might want to harm your business?”

He turned those thoughts over in his mind, trying to come up with a good enough reason not to stay. There literally wasn’t a good reason. All he was going to do when he got home was work on the case more and fall asleep on the couch again. 

Derek was going to regret this but he huffed and slipped off his coat, placing it on the table beside Stiles’. “Fine,” he muttered, setting his briefcase on the table as well. 

At his words, Stiles seemed to brighten a little, a smile widening on his face. “Great, okay, so come over here and I can catch you up on what I’ve found out in the past few hours.”

He nodded and took the seat Stiles was gesturing to, looking up at him expectantly. When Stiles didn’t start speaking, Derek huffed. “Stiles… what did you find?” he enunciated each word.

Stiles flailed and nodded, “Right, right, uh, sorry. Okay so, while I was looking at the file from New York, it struck me that the files were oddly similar. Like… really similar.” He pointed to the screen where he’d been putting his thoughts down as he went.

“Okay so…” Derek said, encouraging the boy on.

“So… I found that strange. I looked into both case files to see if there were any similarities in the wolves, like if they might be from the same family or were distant relatives. But none of the wolves infected from Nebraska were related or even interacted with the wolves from New York. I thought maybe they shared something else, something like volunteers or workers. But I found nothing. There’s no link between the two reserves in relation to the wolves.”

Derek looked confused, trying to comprehend what Stiles was saying. “I think I’m missing the point here,” he muttered, staring at the boy.

Stiles only shook his head and rolled the TV screen over to sit in front of Derek. He tapped the screen and began to move things around for Derek to see. “Okay look, in Nebraska there were four wolf deaths and another three infected; in New York there were five deaths and eight infected. Those high numbers scared me slightly until I checked how many wolves were in the New York reserve, which are over thirty wolves. This is your biggest preservation right?”

“Yes, it’s also the first one my family opened. It’s the one with the most wolves, totaling about thirty-six wolves… well, now it’s thirty-one.”

The scientist had begun to nod enthusiastically again. “That’s right; it’s also the reserve that brings in the most visitors and volunteers as well as school field trips. The Nebraska reserve is also a really big reserve in sales. It brings in over five hundred grand a year because of donations and visitations. So what’s the connection between the two? You are.” he said.

Derek was puzzled. “What? How am I the connection?”

Stiles groaned and leaned back slightly, staring up at the ceiling, trying to figure out a way to explain it. “You… are the connection… because this was done to harm you… and your company… in some way. Do you understand?”

He nodded slowly. He was beginning to understand what Stiles was saying. “So you’re saying someone… might wanna hurt me?”

Stiles nodded and watched Derek’s face for any sign of acceptance.

“But what if it’s not someone wanting to hurt me?”

He faltered. Derek had a point. It could just be a coincidence. But why would his biggest reserve and the reserve leading in donations be targeted? That would be a really big coincidence. “You have a point, but it can’t just be a coincidence that some of your biggest reserves are being hit with this unknown illness that’s killing off your wolves.”

Derek’s mouth pressed into a hard line. Stiles had a point there. He turned over the thought in his head before looking back up at the other. “What else do you know? We can determine if this was intentional or a coincidence later on when the wolves are safe.”

“Okay, so, I also narrowed down the possibilities of what this is to only one option: poisoning.” Stiles turned his back on Derek and continued his fidgeting with the items set out on the table. “But… there are thousands of different ways to poison someone or something.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Stiles I don’t expect you to figure this out in two days. These things take time and meticulous experimenting.”

“But lives are at stake here, Derek!” Stiles said suddenly, slamming his hands down on the table. “If this wasn’t a race to save lives—and I know they aren’t human lives, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let them just die—then I would slow down. But these are living creatures… I have to help them quickly before they’re gone.”

A frown tugged at the corners of Derek’s mouth. He could see now how important this case was to Stiles. It pulled at a string in his chest; one he really didn’t want to acknowledge at the moment. Stiles cared for his reserves; maybe not him, but Stiles did care for the wolves and that was enough.

“How can I help you?” he asked, looking at the boy’s hunched back. 

Stiles straightened and looked over his shoulder. “Do you know how to use a microscope?”

Derek grimaced and winced. “Ah… no, I am not the science guy in the family, I leave the technology to my Uncle.”

That elicited a chortle from Stiles. He looked at the boy with a glare but it had no heat behind it. The few seconds of silence that followed weren’t strained like earlier in the day. They were making progress. 

“Well, I’m too tired to teach you how to use one tonight, but tomorrow I’ll attempt to teach you if we stay until,” he brought his wrist up to his face, checking his watch, “nearly midnight. I need to get back to the hotel and make sure Danny got into his room.”

Derek tried to hold back his scowl but failed miserably. The mention of his name just brought all kinds of bad thoughts to his mind. “So… Danny is your…”

“Yeah, he’s kind of my VP, in a way, I guess. He’s been with me since the beginning and he runs the technology better than I can so he’s pretty handy to have around.”

“So you and him…” Derek trailed off again, gesturing his hands between Stiles and another figurative body.

“What? We’ve been good friends… we grew kinda close during college, and when I came to him about the company, he jumped right in and helped me kick start it.” Stiles’ eyes flicked to Derek’s gesturing, confusion written on his face.

He let out an exasperated sigh. “So you two are…” more gestures “...you know… in a partnership?”

Stiles thought for a few moments, blinking slowly. “Yes… Derek… we’re in a partnership.” As he turned around, he muttered, “we work together for god’s sake, of course we’re in a partnership. He signed the contract…”

After Stiles had said yes, Derek tuned out all the rest. Stiles was dating someone. He was such an idiot. God, he’d fucked up big time. 

~~~

Stiles could tell something was bothering Derek. After all the progress they’d made at communicating with each other, the man had just closed off. 

It was all fine until they hit the lobby. Derek made up some excuse about needing to go get dinner and that he’d meet Stiles again in the morning. It was all so random. Who gets dinner at nearly midnight? Had he done something to make Derek not want to be in the same room with him? He reviewed their conversations in his head. Nothing had seemed unordinary about their talks. Maybe he was over thinking this, maybe Derek was the type that got dinner so late and he was just hungry. Yeah, that was probably it. 

Stiles sighed as he made his way out of the building. Things would be better in the morning. No one would bother him and he could get work done. But he couldn’t help thinking about how easy it had been to talk with Derek about the case, how the words had just flowed from his lips instead of coming out in little jumbles of phrases that were mix-matched and in the wrong order. 

It was obvious though, Derek had no interest in him and Stiles needed to shut this little infatuation down quickly. Derek was the type that settled down with a nice business woman. They’d have none to maybe one kid and live the life of the rich. It made Stiles feel suddenly like leaving for home. But he was determined to stick this out until the end, even if it meant dealing with a man made by the gods. 

Stop thinking about him, Stiles thought. Sleeping was the best option here. Just sleeping until he had to get up tomorrow. And then he would block out Derek. That would work. How hard could it be? He would be in the lab and Derek would be in his office, piece of cake. 

~~~

So much for sleeping. Stiles had tossed and turned all night. He’d maybe gotten a total of two hours? His mind had been so busy and restless that sleeping had pretty much been out of the question.

It was kind of early to be going into the office, but to hell with time. Stiles was so done. He just wanted to lose himself in work. 

The cabby who drove him to the office seemed to be content with staying silent and weaving through the little traffic there was with an accuracy that could only come from experience. In the dark sky, the Wolfsbane building looked odd and scary. The only light was coming from the lobby where a security guard was lounging with his still steaming cup of coffee. Stiles could go for some coffee. Maybe the guy knew a good place.

He paid the silent driver and pushed through the door. The guard looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

“Can I help you?” the man asked. He had a thick New York accent which didn’t surprise Stiles seeing as this was New York.

He gave his best smile for so early in the morning and replied. “Yes, I’m the CEO of the merging company, Stiles Stilinski. I’m helping Derek Hale with a case and I wanted to get an early start. But the Starbucks at my hotel wasn’t open yet and I see that you have a cup of coffee that I’m sure is really, really delicious and I don’t mean to disrupt you from your morning, but do you know where a coffee shop is that’s open at this time?” 

The man stared at him blankly before comprehending his question. “No, you’re out of luck, sir.”

Stiles’ heart sunk at the man’s words, coffee was needed since he’d be running on two hours of sleep. 

“But, you know what? My wife never lets me leave home without a big ol’ thermos of it, I could pour you a cup if you’d like?”

A smile spread across his face. “Yeah, thanks man. That’d be great.”

The guard nodded and pulled a Styrofoam cup from underneath the desk. He poured some of the steaming, black liquid into the cup and capped the thermos, handing the cup to Stiles. “Here you are, sir.”

“Thank you, I owe you one,” Stiles said eagerly and took the cup from his grasp. He didn’t usually drink his coffee black, but it would do for now.

“And you can go on up if you’re working on a case for Mr. Hale. Going up to the lab?”

Stiles nodded and took a sip of the coffee, sighing at the warmth of it sliding down his throat.

The guard smiled. “The light switch is to your left once you get out of the elevator and try not to spill anything on the equipment, the scientists are a little stingy about their technology.”

Thanking the man once again, Stiles headed over to the elevator and pressed the button. It was four o’clock in the morning and he’d have the lab to himself. The thought made him thankful for not being able to sleep. He’d be able to concentrate easier without the scientists hovering around him while he worked.

The doors slid open on the floor and Stiles was faced with a dark room. He flipped the switch and listened to the buzz of things starting up. It was silent and somehow calming. He’d end up turning on some music to help him focus, but the silence of the morning was something that happened back in Beacon Hills. He realized that Christmas was this Sunday. Only five days away. He and his dad hadn’t always kept the tradition of meeting up for Christmas, and it was mainly Stiles’ fault. He’s a busy man. But he missed the lazy day spent on the couch with his dad, opening presents and watching whatever game was on that day. 

Shaking his head, Stiles signed into one of the computers and put some music on to distract him. He didn’t need to be thinking about his dad when he had a case to be working out. The Sheriff would understand. Stiles would be back for New Years and all would be forgiven.

~~~

The agitated sigh that punctured the silence of the morning reminded him of how much sleep he had really gotten last night (i.e. none). Derek ran his hand through his hair blinking at the dark sky. It was only four thirty. Maybe if he tried to relax, he could sleep for another two hours. 

Of course that didn’t work. After thirty minutes of staring at the ceiling, Derek swung his legs over the edge and padded across the room towards the kitchen. Coffee. Then a shower. And more coffee. 

By the time he entered the building, Brad was biting into his second doughnut of the morning. 

“Morning Mr. Hale,” Brad the security guard said. Derek needed to pay the guy more. He got here at four o’clock every morning and held down the fort until lunch when he finished his shift. Derek would look into giving him a raise because it was a miracle that the guy didn’t fall asleep. 

“Morning,” he rasped, sipping at his coffee. “Quiet morning?”

Brad nodded. “Pretty much, sir, except for the one scientist that came in early this morning; he went on up to the lab and has been working ever since.”

Someone’s here before me? Derek thought. That wasn’t common. Most days, he got into the office around six and it would be a good hour before anyone else showed up. “Really? None of them usually show up until seven thirty.”

“Oh this man wasn’t one of your scientists, sir. He was the CEO of the laboratories we’re merging with. Nice man, he got in around four thirty this morning. He needed some coffee so I gave him some of mine and sent him on his way up.”

Stiles was already here? Why? Derek blinked and tapped the desk. “Really? He’s been here for an hour? Well, I’ll go check up on him. Thanks Brad.”

The ride up to the lab floor was quicker than last night. He sipped at his coffee and peered around the opening elevator doors. Stiles was hunched over a microscope. Black glasses were sitting on the table and a forgotten cup sitting next to them. Derek realized he was smiling and quickly shifted to his default scowl. Stiles was busy, he’d come back later. 

Once in his office, he began sifting through emails and tapping at the keyboard in front of him. The noise down below steadily became more alert as the sun pushed around the buildings blocking the horizon. 

By the time the door opened and Erica stepped in to tell him of the meetings he had this morning, Derek had answered all of his emails, read through a lab report from his uncle, given Brad a five dollar raise to his hourly pay, and gone over the case files for this outbreak in his reserves. He gave a curt nod before sending her off and gathering his papers for the conference in twenty minutes. Just as he’s slipping the papers into a file folder, a swift knock on the door stops him.

“Come in,” Derek said distractedly, bent over his folder sitting on the couch he had on one side of the room. 

“Morning Derek, I’ve been working stuff out and—“Stiles started.

When Derek straightened up and glanced over his shoulder, he realized why Stiles had stopped talking. The boy was beet red and staring at the floor. 

“Stiles? You can keep talking, I’m not going to bite your head off,” he prompted, making a gesture for him to continue.

The other stuttered and stumbled over his words. “N-No… it can wait. You s-seem like you’re about to head out. I’ll come back later.”

“Stiles just spit it out.”

“I think I might know what poison is infecting the wolves,” he says quickly. “Well, I’ve narrowed it down to about ten. Wait, just narrowed it down again to four. There are four poisons that it could be.”

Derek’s eyes widened. “Four? So you’re close finding a cure?”

“Well, once I narrow it down to The One, I’ll be able to start working out a formula for treatment, depending on the type of poison. And I have to figure out if it has different strains and then finding out which one.” Stiles looked up at Derek and nodded. “But yeah, I’m close to finding a cure.”

“Stiles… that’s…” he was speechless. The boy was a genius.

Stiles frowned, “I know it’s not as quick as you probably want it, but I promise I’ll get it done as soon as possible.” 

He shook his head and stared at the scientist in front of him with utter disbelief. “You’re doing fine, Stiles.” A corner of Derek’s mouth twitched up, quickly disappearing. “Look, I have to get to a meeting, but as soon as it’s over, I’ll come down to the lab and we can work through some more stuff and maybe we’ll figure something else out.”

Stiles faltered, that was a nice gesture. “Yeah… yeah okay sure. I’ll be down there, have fun at your meeting.” He fidgeted slightly before backing out toward the door and leaving for the lab.

Derek blinked and shook his head, gathering his stuff and heading down the hall. The meeting shouldn’t take too long. It was just a routine check up on finances and how well each reserve was doing based on the year’s profit. 

As he had predicted, the meeting only took about half an hour. In no time at all, Derek was heading downstairs to check on Stiles and see how things were going. The elevator slid open and he looked around the lab to find Stiles playing around with the TV screen. Shrugging out of his jacket, he came to stand next to the scientist, brushing his arm against the other’s arm in a casual manner as if to alert Stiles of his presence.

“How are you doing?”

“I’ve made some progress, not much, but some. The poison list is down to two: Strychnine poisoning or Lupin poisoning. I’ve only dealt with one of these poisonings before, and I’m hoping it’s this one because it’s easy to cure… Lupin poisoning isn’t as deadly as the other. Now Strychnine poisoning, I’ve never dealt with it. It hasn’t been a threat since the 1920s, so you can imagine why I haven’t had to deal with this…” Stiles made a gesturing motion, trying to pull the right words out of the air, “…monstrosity of a poisoning.”

Derek raised an eyebrow, looking about as confused as Erica when he had refused to go on a blind date she’d set up for him.

Stiles side-eyed him, “To put it simply, Strychnine poison bad; Lupin poison less bad.”

The glare Stiles received let him know that that wasn’t the reason Derek was confused.

“That’s obviously not what you were confused about…”

“No, it wasn’t. I’m confused about how Lupin could have gotten near to the wolves. Sure, it’s a plant, but we try to make sure and document all poisonous plants within the reserve acreage so we can prevent things like this.”

Realization hit Stiles like a ton of bricks, “And if there were any cases of Lupin poisoning, your staff would know how to treat it and…”

“And that means it couldn’t be Lupin.” Derek finished for Stiles, turning to the scientist, his face grave. 

Stiles grimaced and stared at the screen. “So that means it can only be one thing: Strychnine poisoning.”

A feeling settled into the pit of both of their stomachs. They were in for an adventure. Without uttering a word, Derek understood how much strain they were under. And he knew how much stress was just added to Stiles’ plate. For him it would be more difficult, having to deal with a poison he’d never worked with before. For Derek, he’d have to do research and help out as much as he could. But most importantly, he’d have to find a way to smooth things over with the finances and recovery periods. Plus, they’d need to figure out how Strychnine even got into the reserves in the first place. With Christmas approaching, could they get this sorted out before the year was up and more wolves died?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahahahahhahahahaahhahaah, so I know this is late (like four months late hah).  
> Again, thanks for reading, giving kudos, bookmarking, and commenting because it means so much to me. I'm planning another three or four chapters. And I think they'll be progressively longer. There might be an epilogue if I feel like it, but who knows, I'm such a question mark when it comes to writing.
> 
> As always you can find me at [theonewhoranwithwolves](http://www.theonewhoranwithwolves.tumblr.com)
> 
> Thanks to my beta: [forensicallyyours](http://www.forensicallyyours.tumblr.com)! I love you omg. She's the patientest person ever and wow.
> 
> **If you find any formatting, grammatical, or whatever errors, don't be afraid to send me a message/comment about it because I'm human and I make mistakes


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